Dog's shooting remains mystery

Pet owner says she's scared and saddened by loss.

Pet owner says she's scared and saddened by loss.

SOUTH BEND Â? Isabelle Rice said she heard T.T. Baby bark once and then 12 shots. She called police to report that shots had been fired in the neighborhood. Shortly after, her brother, who lives next door, called to say that her dog had been shot dead.

The incident happened late Sunday night, and Rice said Tuesday that she is still scared and upset. The dog, T.T. Baby, was in the backyard of her Brookfield Street home. According to a police report, the police followed a set of footprints in the snow from the yard to an alley. Police believe the shooter then got into a vehicle and fled.

Rice said she had a large "beware of dog" sign on the side of her garage above T.T. Baby's doghouse, which, she alleges, was taken by the shooter.

T.T. was a 12-year-old mutt, and, Rice said Tuesday, she raised him from the time he was a puppy.

"I miss him so bad," she said.

She said that when she woke Tuesday morning, she went to her back door to go out and feed T.T., forgetting that he isn't there anymore.

Rice said she is also concerned for her own safety because just weeks before shots were fired near her backyard. Police investigated a shots-fired call in the neighborhood Feb. 9 and found that a safety light on a lightpole had been shot out in the alley near her backyard.

Police reports indicate that in July an unknown man came into her yard, yelling and throwing things at the dog. She told police that the man said he would come back for the dog, threatening to shoot it. In September, Rice called police because juveniles were throwing rocks at the dog.

South Bend police spokesman Capt. Phil Trent said the police don't have any records of complaints from neighbors against the dog and that right now "the whole thing is a big question mark."